Bike Week!

As you probably know, May is Bike Month,  and next week is Bike Week, and next Friday is Bike to Work Day (aren't they all?)  Although the whole concept is a bit patronizing for people who ride all the time, it is (generally) a glorious time of year to ride a bike,  and it's a chance to interact with the community of other bikers a little more than with a nod at a stoplight or a "on your left"   Boston is really trying to get people involved as an attempt to get people to try 2 wheels.  Even if it doesn't stick,  I'm really appreciative, because I'm convinced  that the core of sharing the road is empathy (seeing the biker as someone just like you).  And if these events get more people to try 2 wheels, even if they don't make the commitment to doing it regularly, they can see what it's like, and hopefully adjust their driving accordingly.

The "traditional" bike event for this time of year is a "Bike Breakfast"  I guess because rush hour is more concntrated in the morning than in the evening?  Or assorted pastries and coffee are easier to arrange than lunch?  In any case, it's often kind of like an awkward cocktail party, sans booze.
Cambridge is pretty good about hosting them,  although not all of them are listed in the massbike calendar: there's a schedule here of the locations for each day.  The Broadway bicycle Pancake breakfast is great, I'm told,  and the Harvard Breakfast on Wednesday has lots of good schwag like maps and lights.

Thursday night there's a really cool sounding talk with bicycle planners from Portland OR, SFO and NYC.  I'm really bummed that I have a meeting that night that I scheduled a while ago, so can't make it.  This kind of event is the kind of thing that I think is a better way to celebrate bikes  than a stale croissant.

Friday however there's an event close to my heart,  the Dress up ride, sponsored by the Swiss Consulate.  It was not well publicized last year, and I spent too much time talking to a kind of creepy guy who fit all the weird bike commuter stereotypes (including neon colors and spandex), but it was still fun, and for me, better than the other caravans that come into downtown.  If you commute downtown, and ride in your work clothes, please consider joining us!

I actually make an extra special effort to ride in dressy clothes this week to set an example (hopefully) of how easy it is.  I'm kind of in the "breaking out the floaty dresses part of the season"  anyway,  so it's pretty much what I'd be wearing anyway.